This makes me so sad.........Brad tried to do the right and noble thing......

[a kennedy]

Hollywood star Brad Pitt and his Make It Right Foundation have reached a $20.5 million settlement with 107 New Orleans residents after the houses they built for them in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina were found to be poorly constructed and rotting.

Pending a judge's approval, residents will be entitled to a $25,000 reimbursement for repairs to their homes, while the remainder of the funds will be split between them based on the state of their houses.

Pitt worked with ecological non-profit Global Green to come up with the funds, and admitted he was 'grateful' they were able to reach the settlement.

'I am incredibly grateful for Global Green’s willingness to step up and provide this important support for the Lower Ninth families,' he said.

'We collaborated in the early days post-Katrina and we are very fortunate to have Global Green's generous continuing commitment to help address the challenges around these homes and others in need,' he continued.

Pitt formed Make It Right to help hard-hit residents of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward in 2007, aiming to replace lost housing in the Ward with 150 avant-garde dwellings that were storm-safe and energy-efficient.

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/08/brad-pitt-lawsuit-settlement-hurricane-katrina-homes

[chowder66]

2. I agree with you. The good intentions were there.

[a kennedy]

3. Yup.......

[hunter]

4. Here's an article about how it went wrong...

For Hurricane Katrina survivors in the Lower Ninth Ward, it had seemed like a prayer answered: in 2006, Brad Pitt announced an initiative to rebuild New Orleans’ storm-ravaged Lower Ninth Ward with sustainable, flood-proof, affordable homes, designed by a list of A-list architects. The 109 homes on offer would give many survivors a chance to become first-time homeowners, and bring back a community devastated by the hurricane. But not even a decade after the homes were completed to great fanfare – including a star-studded gala hosted by Ellen DeGeneres – that dream has become a curse, as many of the residents’ homes have decayed to unlivable conditions.

The houses now list a frightening array of defects: water intrusion, black mold, porches rotted through, stair rails collapsing, fires caused by electrical problems, plumbing problems and poor ventilation, according to a class-action lawsuit filed against Pitt and his charity by some of the remaining residents. Other residents have reported termite infestations, and multiple residents have fallen sick.

--more--

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/03/brad-pitt-post-katrina-housing-project-went-horribly-wrong

Believing in things doesn't make them so.

Hiring competent architects, engineers, contractors, and trades people isn't an easy task, especially in the U.S.A. where educational and training opportunities are limited because nobody wants to pay for them. We're not investing in our young people and it's adversely affecting our ability to get things done, let alone get things done right.

This project was probably doomed from the start. Building a Frank Gehry / David Adjaye / Shigeru Ban "green" house is, without a doubt, going to require more sophisticated crews than those who build more conventional housing.

Who is going to be saying, "Hey, this doesn't look right..." when they are not familiar with much of the work they are doing.

Boring, completely generic construction might have worked better here. Homes like that can always be personalized with paint, decorative trim and landscaping in the final stages of construction.

[Demovictory9]

7. Some houses had flat roofs and lacked basic features like rain gutters, overhangs, covered beams, or

Some houses had flat roofs and lacked basic features like rain gutters, overhangs, covered beams, or waterproof paint to weather New Orleans’ torrential downpours. Within weeks, houses began to develop mold, leaks and rot.

[PhoenixRisingAgain]

5. I read the article but I still have questions...

I get that the homes were poorly constructed and that that was Pitt's fault for not spending more of his money of better architects and better trained tradesmen but what I don't get is the damages awarded. The homeowners should be compensated for every dime they paid Pitt for these bad homes, not merely $25K and then we'll decide the rest at a later point in time. These people deserve to be made whole again and Pitt, while I know his heart was in the right place, should have to make them whole for taking vulnerable's people's money and not delivering on his promises. It's only fair.

[Mopar151]

6. Big Easy ain't EZ!

It's so wet, no drainage, a lot is built on piers.